Golfers club selection aid



Oct. 8, 1963 J, p os 3,106,030

GOLFERS'CLUB SELECTION AID Filed July 30, 1962 PLAYERS CHOKE nuns I a PLAYERS O CHOICE Rcoumzunan vuvens i. CHOICE I'llIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR. JOSEPH Paws! ATTORNEY United States Patent F 3,1tl6,l GQLFERS CLUE SELECTION AID Joseph Pelosi, S7 Beechwood Road, Florhain Pair, NJ. Filed July 30, 1962, Ser. l o. 215,240

' 1 Claim. (Cl. 4ii70) The present invention relates to golfing aids and more specifically to a novel reference device which a golfer may consult in selecting the proper club for the distance required in executing a particular shot.

There are two general classes of clubs in the game of golf, viz. woods (those with wooden heads) and irons (those with iron heads). In the woods class there are mainly three or four different clubs, whereas in the irons class there are about ten. The principal difference in either class is the loft or angle at which the front striking face is laid back to elevate the trajectory of the ball in fiight. For instance none of the woods has a high degree of loft. Moreover, the weight of the head and length of the shaft all tend to aid the low loft face in obtaining the flat trajectory freely bounding and rolling shots for distance. About three of the irons correspond in loft to the first three woods, but all the others, with the exception of the putter used primarily on the greens, have progressively graduated degrees of loft with the object of imparting backspin to the ball in shots to the green so that it will stick and not roll off.

From the foregoing, it is apparent that the choice of the most suitable club for each golf shot is very important. A professional, or other player who shoots par golf, will know from personal experience just which club to select, but average players and those who are learning the game generally find it necessary to rely upon the experience of the experts. That is why they often consult their caddies when deciding what club to use for a particular shot. Many caddies are either expert players themselves or have learned a lot about the choice of clubs from caddying for the par golfers, so their advice is usually very helpful. However, some players just dont like to seek the advice of others, and, with the advent of caddy carts, a player in need of advice might not have any caddy to consult if he wanted to do so.

It, therefore, is the primary object of my present invention to provide golf players with a simple pocket-size indicator comprising two relatively movable plates, viz.: (l) a back plate bearing a row of numerical indicia on its inner face denoting linear yardage and parallel rows respectively including the number of each club in both the woods and the irons classes; and (2) a front plate having windows in registration with the respective rows of numerical indicia on the back plate and indicia adjacent to each window to designate the meaning of the numerical indicia on the back plate which may become visible therethrough. With this device, a golfer is enabled to set the relatively movable plates to indicate the linear yardage of a planned stroke and then read through appropriate windows the specific wooden or iron clubs indicated for the shot as based upon the judgment of a par golfer.

Another object is to provide a club selection indicator of the nature just described that has additional windows in its front plate in registration with empty areas between the rows of indicia through which windows the user may mark on the inner face of the back plate indicia denoting the club designations other than those which would be chosen by a par golfer but which have been found by the user to be more nearly appropriate to his playing ability.

Further objects, advantages and features will become apparent as the following specific description is read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the invention showing'the device set for an 80-yard shot;

iifihdh h Patented Get. 8, 1963 FIG. 2 is the back plate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is the top plate of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view along the line 99 of FIG. 1.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like parts in the several views, there is shown in FIG. 1 the golfers club selection aid, generally designated by the numeral 35?. The club selection aid 36 comprises a flat, circular back plate 32. and a flat, elliptical top plate 34 arranged in face-to-face contact therewith. The back plate 32 and the top plate 34 are united for relative rotary movement about a common axis'by rotational means such as the grommet 12 (FiG. 4). The grommet 12 is located in the center of the circular back plate 32 and on the major axis 36 of the elliptical top plate 34.

Back plate 32 bears on its inner face, preferably close to the peripheral edge thereof, a first circular row of consecutive numerical indicia designated as distance scale so. The distance scale 4-0 indicates linear yardage, ranging in this specific instance from to 400 yards measured in counterclockwise direction.

The plates 32. and 34 are in relation to one another in size such that the major axis 36 of the elliptical top plate 34 is shorter than the diameter of the back plate 32. by the width of the distance scale 49 (FIG. 1) and is dis posed substantially at the periphery of the plate 32. The minor axis 38 of the plate 34, on the other hand, is shorter than said diameter by twice the width of the distance scale 4t). The assembly of the plates is such that they have a common tangent at the major axis as, as at point T (FIG. 1'). It will therefore be apparent that approximately 270 degrees of the distance scale 40 will be visible and readable at all times.

There are also a second circular row 14 and a third circular row 15 of numerical indicia borne by the inner face of back plate 32 and arranged concentric to the axis of the grommet 12. The indicia in second row 14 designate wooden clubs, or woods, by consecutive numerals commonly used to indicate the degree of loft in each instance. For example, 1 designates a driver which has its front face laid back to a minimum degree and can be expected to drive a ball in a comparatively flat trajectory for a maximum distance. The numeral 2 designates a brassie, which has slightly more loft and will not drive the ball quite so far, but has a brass face plate adapted to take turf and scoop the ball off the ground when it is not teed up by grass.

The indicia in third row 15 designate iron clubs, or irons, and correspond to the numerical designations of the woods in indicating degree of loft.

The indicia in the third and second rows are spaced around the pivotal axis in a definite relation to the respective yardage numerals in the first row. This relationship will be explained presently.

In front plate 34 there is a plurality of windows, viz: a window 42. in registration with second row 14 of numerical indicia, and a window 44 in registration with third row 15 of numerical indicia.

The indicia in the respective second and third rows 14 and 15 on back plate 32 and the respective windows 44 and 42 in top plate 34 are so located in position relative to the consecutive numerical indicia on the distance scale 40 on back plate 32 that, when the two plates 32 and 3d are relatively adjusted about their rotational axis from rows 14- and/or 15', numerals designating the appropriate wood or iron to use for the represented linear yardage will appear through the respective windows 34 and 42 (FIG. 1). Of course, if the distance is too short for accurate use of any wood with full swing, as from 80 to yards, no woods numeral will appear in window 44, but an irons numeral will appear in window 42 (FIG. 1).

For use by a player who is either a beginner or at least one who has not yet attained the proficiency of a par golfer, supplementary windows 46 and 43 have been provided in front plate 32 in registration with radially separated areas of the annular blank space intervening between circular rows 14 and 15 of numerical indicia. These supplementary windows 46 and 43 are each designated by the indicia Players Choice. Window 48 is located closely to window 44 and also refers to woods, whereas window 6 is close to the Window 42 and also refers to irons, and will he later explained.

The elliptical top plate 34 (FIG. 3) has thereon, at

the periphery and along the major axis 36 thereof, an in dicator 41 adapted to be aligned with the distance scale 4:).

Operational use of the circular rotary embodiment of my indicator 30 will now be described.

Assuming that the sign at the first tee reads 130 Yds, the player will adjust the front and back plates 32 and 34 of his indicator rotatively by manipulation of their marginal edges so that the indicator 41 is set on the numeral 130 of the distance scale. Looking now at window 44, he will discover that no numeral is visible, but there will be the numeral 6 in window 42 for example. This means that a Wood would not be the proper club but a No. 6 iron is indicated. Now suppose that this players ball lands short of the green. It may be that he did not swing hard enough, but, if he continues to undershoot on the same or other l30-yard holes with his No. 6 iron, it may be advisable to try a No. or even N0. 4 iron. If successful in landing on the green consistently with either of these other clubs, the player may use window 4-6 at the setting of 130 yards on the distance scale to mark the number of the more appropriate club on the blank area of back plate 32. The method of use just described like- Wise applies to shots for estimated distances along the fairway or from a fairway lie to the next green.

Hence, setting the indicator 41 to a specified yardage on the distance scale 4 will cause the proper club number to appear in the windows 42 and 44, and the second set of openings 46 and 48 do not register with any indicia but are provided so that the player may write in the number of the club of his own choice at any particular yardage.

While the invention has been illustrated and described with respect to some preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that it is intended to cover all changes and modifications which do not constitute departures from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claim.

What is claimed is:

A golf club selection aid comprising, a circular back plate, a yardage distance scale disposed about the periphery thereof, a pair of rows of indicia on the back plate concentric with said yardage distance scale, an elliptical top plate having a yardage indicator thereon adapted to be set upon said yardage distance scale, a grommet securing the back plate to the top plate in rotatable fashion such that the top plate and the back plate are commonly tangent at the major axis of the elliptical top plate, a plurality of openings along the major axis of said elliptical top plate adapted to register with said circular rows of indicia to indicate a golf club for each particular setting of said yardage indicator.

References (Jited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,600,874 Greenwood Sept. 26, 1926 2,508,894 Schloer May 23, 1950 2,681,523 Sellers June 22, 1954 

